Lemkin: Operator-VCs Should Only Invest in CEOs Better Than Themselves
Jason Lemkin · Jason Lemkin: Cold Email Tips; Why Only 15% of Founders Listen to their VCs | 20VC #954 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Nov 30, 2022 · at 19:58
Jason Lemkin is the founder of SaaStr and investor in SaaS companies like Algolia, Talkdesk, and Pipedrive. He discusses investment rules for former founders becoming VCs.
0:00 / 0:25exact quote · 25.8s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“You have to invest in CEOs that were better than you. If you know the problem, if I know, if I'm a podcaster and I know Riverside or whatever the other versions are, and I look, Riverside's great. We're on it today. And you meet the CEO who I don't know, and he's not better than you, Harry, you shouldn't invest. But if you meet the CEO of Riverside And my God, you're, you just know that whether he's five percent or she's five percent better than you or 50%, but they're better than you. And you've already had a decent outcome as a founder. You can't lose in those ones.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Jason Lemkin
Lemkin: AI will replace half of knowledge workers in 24 months
“Half of these knowledge workers are going to be gone in 24 months”
Every crypto company offering an Earn program is a fraud
“I believe every crypto company that has an EARN program is a fraud.”
Lemkin: Coinbase's 10% high-yield crypto program is a pyramid scheme
“And even, I know Coinbase is the good one, but where are they getting this 10%? It's a pyramid scheme. It's fraud.”
Lemkin: Every venture capital firm has a fraudulent company in its portfolio
“And every VC has a fraud in their portfolio. Every single VC has a fraud in their portfolio.”